Blue With Happiness

There’s Everything You Need From That Perfect Beach Destination in the Philippines, Minus the Exorbitant Prices. The Ever-smiling People Are a Bonus, Finds Shabnam Minwalla

- Shabnam Minwalla

Metro Manila is best imagined from the air. Distance, sunlight and anticipation impart dazzle to the city below. Red and green roofs glitter— like a maharaja’s prized jewels—against a satin sea. Tongues of land dart into shimmering water. Twists of blue weave through gardens and streets.

It feels as if we’re descending into a fantastical, watery world. Which is not far off the mark. The Philippines is a country of more than 7,107 islands scattered in the Pacific Ocean. An embarrassment of palm-fringed beaches and sea-view properties. An aquaphobe’s nightmare, where the whisper of water and the weight of briny air are ever-present.

As soon as we land in Metro Manila, we’re whisked onto a domestic flight. The toy plane flies low above islands shaped like amoebas, each dolloped with cumulus clouds. The in-flight magazine has an article on ‘Where to Find the Best Beaches’—and one gets the sense they didn’t have to look very hard.

We land in El Nido, where a solicitous attendant thrusts bright-purple umbrellas into our hands for the short, sunny walk to the airport. Four aunties with bright cotton skirts and brighter smiles burst into a song of welcome. It’s the first of many musical welcomes and farewells in this land of smiles, songs and shopping malls.

El Nido, with its dense mangroves and turquoise sea, feels utterly removed from everyday life. But when we climb into a bangka—the local canoe with wooden tentacles that make it resemble a water strider—we realise that we’re retreating further into the blueness.